R914 Heaven and Earth, Pt.2

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and the conclusion of the message, Heaven on Earth.

Sometimes when we look around us and we see what's taking place, it's hard to imagine Heaven on Earth. But in today's message from Dr. Wilton, we'll go to Matthew chapter 6 and gain some understanding. Even in the middle of the mess, there is a message from God's Word for you and I. As we spend time on the phones together at 866-899-WORD, you need to know we're here for you, not just now during the broadcast, but 24 hours a day if you haven't shotted the number down or maybe stored it in your cell. Our pastor, Dr. Don Wilton, would say, let us be your 2 a.m. friend.

Call us anytime at 866-899-9673 or meet us online at www.tewonline.org. Now today's message, Heaven on Earth with Dr. Don Wilton. God allows man to hear what God is willing in Heaven. Now, my dear friends, what an assumption. Jesus is making a theological assumption here that all people who have believed in the name of God in Christ Jesus are allowed by virtue of His sacrifice to hear God's will from Heaven. If I could put it into modern day terminology, God actually allows us to, as it were, to tap into what's going on in Heaven.

But if that's the first assumption that Jesus makes, the second assumption is that God commands man to obey what He taps into. These two are juxtaposed together, folks. They ride side-saddle with one another. This is a tandem bicycle, if you please. You've got two people pedaling at the same time, but actually God's the one who's doing all the pedaling.

We're just there for the ride. Jesus said, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Well, He was talking about God's will in Heaven. I've got four qualities I want to share with you that help us to understand what God's will is.

What does it look like? How do you describe God's will in Heaven? Well, number one, it is sovereign. If you're going to get to grips with what God's will in Heaven is, you've got to begin with the sovereignty of God, because He's God. If it is sovereign, it means that it carries absolute authority. It means that it demands total obedience.

It means that it expects unquestioned compliance. That's God's sovereignty. Sovereignty means that when God speaks, that's it.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Now, folks, we battle with that because we're Americans, because we've got a constitution, we've got a Bill of Rights. Now, listen to this, Christian American. We battle with it. Naturally, we do. I battle with it. I battle with this matter of the sovereign will of God, because I want to question it. It's one thing to hear it, but it's another thing to question it. Now, folks, listen.

We go to God and we say to Him, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Lord, is this okay? And He says, yes. And then we go and change. Lord, do you want me to go right or left? I want you to go right.

And then we turn left. Can you feel the challenge there? It's tough, isn't it? So when one talks about God's will, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, number one, it's sovereign. Number two, it's perfect. I can't describe perfectness to you, can you? I can't do that, but I do know that He is perfect, which means that He is absolutely perfect.

Now, watch this. It means that whatever it is that is loosed in Heaven is perfect for me on this earth. Number three, it is celebrated. God's will is celebrated.

It's an amazing thing. Do you know if you take your Bibles, which we don't need to do right now, you go, for example, to Revelation chapter four, the beginning of the end, the eschatos, John's on the island of Patmos. You go to Revelation 4, verse 11, for example, in your own private time, you'll see one of the songs that the angels and the elders sing around the throne of God.

What were they singing about? Praise be to God, glory and honor forever and forever because of your perfect will that has been made known through the creation of the world and of mankind. They celebrated God's perfect will around the throne. By the way, what is God's perfect will? God's perfect will is that none would perish. Jesus, the Word of God makes this abundantly clear.

Jesus died for all people. His will is that not one person would go to a devil's hell, would be separated from the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Now, I've met people, folks, go for this angle and that angle and get all their theology and resort to their comfort zones and tell me that God, before He even did this, decided that these people here were damned to eternal hell.

These people are going to be saved and there's nothing you can do about it. Well, show me that in Scripture. Why would Jesus have bothered to die if everybody was or some people were already damned? If God's already made the decision. Why did He give us the great commission to go into all the world and tell people about Jesus if God's already damned half the world? Does God play games? Why did Jesus say, come and follow me?

I'm going to make you fishes of men if you and I have no part to play. Why did He say God so loved the world that whosoever believes in Him should not perish? Why did He say, for by grace are you saved through faith, not of works?

There's nothing you can do out of works. It is faith. Why did Paul say that just shall live by the very expression of faith and trust in Jesus Christ? Why did he tell the church in the Acts of the Apostles, you need to repent of your sin? If even of my repenting of my sin is not going to result in my conversion because God's already decided that I'm damned to hell. Thy will be done on earth just the same as it is in heaven. And how do we know that the will of God is that none would perish? Because when somebody, just one person gives their life to Jesus Christ, the Bible says the angels in heaven rejoice.

What a celebration. Number four, it is done. There you've got a description of the will of God in heaven. It is sovereign, it is perfect, it's celebrated and it's done. It's never questioned, it's carried out.

So here's the bottom line, folks. What then would you suppose would be the top ten ways not to pray for God's will to be done? If the most important thing on this earth is for me to ask God to carry out His will in my life, what do I not need to do? If we as a church want to ask God to make known His will in heaven to us on this earth, tell us what to do tomorrow, next week. If I as a parent, if you as a parent and we want to pray for our children, for our sons and daughters, for our parents, what to do, what not to do. Folks, here are the top ten things that you must not do when you ask God to reveal His will to you. The top ten ways not to pray. Number one, with forced submission. Don't pray with forced submission, like God's got you by the scruff of the neck and He's ramming you down on your knees and He's saying, you better pray.

You know who I am? It's nowhere in the Bible that God says that. Forced submission. God is the God of grace and the God of love. He invites us to come into His presence. Number two, do not pray with passive resignation. Well, I guess you know, I might as well go do this, whatever.

Have you ever gone to someone with a grand proposal and you think it's the best thing you've ever shared? Say, how about it? Why don't we do this?

No, whatever. It's like just take the air out of the balloon. Don't ever pray with weak abandonment. Now folks, weak abandonment is understandable for those of us who have lived this life because many people are scarred by the rigors of life and we become weak and frail. But don't allow weak abandonment to rob you of your expectation.

Weak abandonment is a resignation brought about by circumstances of life that basically throws caution to the wind. Number four, do not pray with inevitable consequence. Now do you know what inevitable consequence is? Well, Lord, I'm going to get on my knees and pray but I already know what will be will be. Don't pray with inevitable consequence.

Folks, that's taking and going from the sublime to the ridiculous. That's the paradox of theology. God on one hand is God.

I on the other hand am feeble man. God is in charge. And there is a sense in which there is an inevitability. But these things belong to the mystery of the Godhead, a God who is so mighty and powerful that He rules this mighty universe and yet He's so small He can live in my heart.

Now I can't explain that to you. It is that love between a mother and a child, between a husband and a wife. My wife knows that I love her but I don't make an inevitable consequence of that.

I don't just go through like I was saying, well, she knows that so get a life. Sometimes we can pray with an inevitable consequence. Number five, with heartless joy.

Well, here's a contradiction. Don't pray with heartless joy. Here's heartless joy, folks.

I don't know how best to demonstrate it. Lord, here I am in this place where all these unfortunate people are. I just thank you for letting me live in a place like Spartanburg and you've blessed me so much. Now I know these people deserve to be where they are. Boy, have they asked for it.

And they wouldn't listen to anybody. But listen, I'm going to pray anyway that your will will be done on earth. Can you feel that there's a heartless joy there?

It's kind of like two sides of the same picture. Don't pray like that. You've got to be like Jesus and stand outside of Jerusalem and weep with compassion in your heart when you pray. Number six, don't ever pray with arrogant determination. Arrogant determination in prayer.

The Bible's got some harsh words to say about that with the Pharisees. A person who prays with arrogant determination is a person who elevates themselves to the seat of God's righteousness in and of themselves. Says, listen, I'm not only believe in the power of prayer, but I claim the power of prayer. Let me tell you what I'm going to do for you, sister.

Forgive the interruption. My goodness, what a powerful reminder of not only believing in the power of prayer, but claiming it. Oh, how we'd love to stand with you, to pray with you, claiming the power of prayer in whatever's going on in your life. If you don't know this number, if you haven't jotted it down or stored it in your cell, this is the number of the encouraging word. 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. And as Dr. Don would say, we would be honored to be one of your 2 a.m. friends, someone that you know you can depend on, even at 2 a.m., to talk with, pray with, maybe connect you with resources that will help you grow in your faith.

24 7. We'd love to be available for you. The number again is 866-899-9673 or online as well at TEWONLINE.ORG.

That's TEWONLINE.ORG. Now let's get right back into this magnificent teaching from Dr. Don Wilton on the subject of heaven on earth. God has told me that if I pray for you, are you going to be blessed or what? Because I have the power to change the mind of God. That's arrogant determination. Number seven, don't ever pray with weary desperation. Don't grow weary in well-doing. I know many people. I know many people in our community who have served the Lord with such precious determination.

And you've been at it and you've persisted. And it's very easy to grow weary in well-doing. And whilst this seventh way not to pray is so easily understandable.

And there's a very thin line. Many times people who are going through major crises, major hurt and major pain will lapse into praying with a weary desperation. Oh God, woe is me. I'm just going to call on your name. And it almost becomes like an inadvertent back door way of saying I'm praying and I want you to have sympathy on me because of my role in life.

Go and study the life of Job. It's a difficult thing to overcome. Don't pray with a spirit of weary desperation. Number eight, false humility. Not something that's spoken. It's an attitude of the heart.

So easy for us. I know how many times in my own life that I get ahead of myself. I get tired of hearing my own voice because I'm a public speaker.

And sometimes you and I can become so caught up in who we are. And don't put on a sense of false humility in an effort to try and please God because God looks upon our hearts. Number nine, don't ever pray with a spirit of arrogant pride. You know what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees?

They stood on the highways and they beat their chest and they lifted up their voice and said, Thank you, Lord, that I'm not like this sinner over here and that I'm able to come and pray. And you know, Jesus had some harsh words to say about that. And number ten, don't ever pray with ritualistic repetition. Don't pray with ritualistic repetition. Here in this passage in Matthew six and verse seven, Jesus said this. He said, And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Folks, I'll tell you something really surprising. Don't repeat the Lord's Prayer over and over and don't do it. Don't fall into that trap. Keep asking yourself, Lord, there's nothing wrong with the Lord's Prayer. Love the Lord's Prayer, but he didn't give us the Lord's Prayer to pray in a repetitious fashion where it just becomes a parrot fashion, rote statement where we are no different to the pagans. Don't design for yourself a little prayer that you just pray every time you get on. This is the prayer that I pray.

Be very careful of that. You need to, nobody's judging you for that. I'm not certainly judging you. God's not condemning you. You've got to examine your heart before the Lord. I'm just telling you what Jesus said. So when you're asking the Lord that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, don't give yourself to ritualistic repetition. Folks, I'm just telling you, there are churches all over the place. That's what they do. Get up there, they sing the doxology every time they meet.

They pray the same prayers every time they meet. I'm scared of that, man. I'm afraid of that because Jesus said, don't do it.

Don't do it. Now, can I say the Lord's Prayer over and over again and mean every word? Absolutely yes. So who's going to be the best judge? You've got to judge that in your own heart.

It's not something that's imposed upon you. But you need to come into the presence of God with a fresh understanding. All right, I'm going to close with this.

You ready? Top 10 ways to pray. This is what we should do. If that's what we shouldn't do, what should we do?

I don't want to leave you with the what we shouldn't do. Here they are, the top 10 ways to pray. Asking God to make known His will upon earth just as He does in heaven. Number one, worshipfully. Pray worshipfully in an attitude of worship.

Number two, carefully. Be careful what you ask Him for. I've heard people say, watch out, He's going to give you what you ask Him for.

You know, so be careful. Pray carefully. Number three, pray specifically. It's an amazing thing that we've been fearfully and wonderfully made in the presence of the Lord, isn't it? He's numbered even the very hairs upon our heads in His presence. He knows us by intricate detail. So you can be specific. He wants to know. You can talk to Him about your marriage, what's right, what's wrong. Your business, your failures, your shortcomings, your unborn child, your struggles, your new weight loss program.

I'd rather not go there, but you know all these, you can talk to Him. Be specific. Don't hold back with the Lord. He's our what? Heavenly Father.

Is He not? All right. Number four, pray obediently. That's what He expects of us. Pray obediently. I'm going to do. He says, turn right.

I'm not going to then go and turn left. Number five, pray humbly. Again, that's sole quality of the heart.

It's not legislated. It's a heart that is right before God. Pray. Number six, constantly. I wonder if there's anybody today, you're ready to give up. You're ready to stop. Don't.

I guess I could have used the word continually. Pray constantly. Don't stop. Don't stop praying for your wife, your husband, your son, your daughter, your grandchildren. Don't stop. Keep it up. Just keep going to the Lord.

He's listening. Pray expectantly. Number seven, you know, that great Methodist preacher, John Wesley, put it perhaps better than anybody I've ever heard. He said, attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God. At 7 a.m., a whole lot of us gathered here in the sanctuary, upstairs and downstairs and prayed all over the sanctuary.

We do that every Sunday. And we try to pray expectantly. I, standing right here, I walked down, went upstairs. I prayed over those pews right up there in the balcony. I prayed for you this morning. I prayed expectantly. Lord, I'm just asking you to do a very special thing here today. Pray with a great expectation. Number eight, pray acceptingly. That's a tough one. Accept what God's going to tell you. You know, I mean, that's me to the T-bone. Lord, tell me what to do.

Oh, is that right? No, I don't accept that. Pray acceptingly. Number nine, pray unselfishly. Pray unselfishly. When you pray unselfishly, what you do is you pray looking outward, not inward. Look to your fellow man. Look to others.

And the Lord will give you a special time in presenting yourself. There's nothing wrong with playing for yourself, folks. Don't think you're less spiritual because you pray for yourself. Nothing wrong with that.

Just do that. But when you pray with an unselfish attitude, what you're doing, it's like when you bake a cake for somebody else. You spend all that day and you bake that delicious cake and you go and give it to somebody else. You know how you just, it does something for you.

And the cake you eat is even sweeter because it's more blessed to give than it is to receive. And then finally, the top 10 ways to pray. Pray spiritually. So how do you do that, Pastor? Well, every believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God. When you pray spiritually, it means you're praying in the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are accepting the fact that he dwells within you. He's giving you utterance. The Spirit of God is even making groanings for you. He's talking for you when your pain is so bad you don't know what to say.

Boy, that's a deal, isn't it? Pray spiritually. Well, you know, I pray for you and you pray for me that we strive to serve the Lord together. Jesus looked at his disciples and he said, I'm going to tell you what to do here. Pray.

Pray this. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I call this message heaven on earth because I just came to a fresh understanding that all that God is doing in heaven, he wants to do for you and for me right here on this earth. Sometimes it's mind boggling to think that God really does want to do that for us right where we are. I pray that you would know that it all starts with a single commitment to say yes to Jesus Christ.

Have you done that? You know, you've heard some great teaching from Dr. Wilton, but right now as he comes into the studio, would you open your heart to these closing thoughts from Dr. Don Wilton? God has spoken to you, hasn't he? And you're ready to give your heart to Jesus.

I'd love to help you right now. Would you pray this prayer with me and accept Jesus into your heart and life? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner.

I know that Jesus loves me and died for me on the cross. Right now, I repent of my sin and I confess my sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come into my heart and save me today and forgive me for my sin. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. If you've prayed that prayer, we'd love to get alongside of you and celebrate with you and send you some literature and help you as you begin to grow. And I want you to know that I love you very, very much. I'm convinced that some of you have given your life to Jesus Christ, some for the first time, some rededicating your life. Whatever is going on in your life right now, it's not important to let us know. Sometimes it's important to let someone know, to let the people around you, make them aware of the fact that you're ready to make a change. And again, I must say, if you let us know, if you call us or meet with us online, we will stand with you and encourage you, put some resources in your hands that will help you succeed.

That's our goal, to help you grow in your faith. If you haven't jotted it down, jot this number down, store it in your cell. We are the encouraging word at 866-899-9673. That's 866-899-9673. Maybe you just prayed with Dr. Don moments ago.

Let us know. And let us put those great resources in your hands. Or maybe you just need to pray with someone. And that phone number is always available for prayer. Prayer is a special gift from God. He knows us. He loves us.

He hears us. He wants us to come to Him in prayer. We would love to pray with you and pray for you. The encouraging word has a 24-hour live prayer line. You can call 866-899-WORD and talk to a live person who would be glad to pray with you.

That's 866-899-9673. The encouraging word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. Our time's gone for today, but we'll be back tomorrow at the same time with the opportunity to dive back into God's word again in Book of Matthew with Dr. Don Wilton. I pray you will join us. And I pray you'll consider inviting a friend. All the details of where to find the encouraging word are on our website at www.tewonline.org